What Just Happened?
by SivanShemesh
Summary: None provided this time.


_General A/N about Just a Simple Mistake_: I did wrote yesterday in LOTR - Update about the next update of this story, and i will repeat it again though. Chapter 7 is within my beta, so forgive me for the long time, as i tried to work on it through my RL, and i still have lots of things that i need to do with little time that i have, but i will try to update my stories.

_About any of my LoTR updates_: Watch my profile, you might see notice from while and then, and i do reply before adding the chapter, so please do notice.

* * *

Title: What Just Happened?

Author: Sivan Shemesh

Beta: Aranel

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Rate: K+

Warning: AU, Humor.

Summary: None provided this time.

A/N: Was written for Teitho June Theme: Strange Encounters.

--

**Imladris**

He pinched himself, just in case this was all an illusion in front of him, a dream he had yet to awake from. As far as Aragorn knew, he was the only human who lived with Elrond. But now, he saw this odd girl before his very eyes, carrying a young horse in her hands.

He walked toward her, still feeling shy. Having lived almost exclusively with elves, he did not know how to act amongst humans.

"What are you doing?" Aragorn asked as he neared.

"Taking my horse for a walk." She replied with a large smile, flicking her red hair back cheerfully.

"Are you not supposed to ride on the horse?"

"My horse is resting now." She explained and continued heading into the dark forest.

Aragorn followed her, not knowing if she knew the danger crawling all over within the forest, all those dark voices, screaming of pain.

'How can she not sense the danger?' Aragorn asked himself.

"WAIT!" He called and hurried after her, deciding to warn her.

"I bet you're doing that everyday – only learning, nothing else. Why don't you have fun and find adventure?" she asked teasingly.

"But I will get hurt." Aragorn replied.

"And you don't want to get hurt?" She asked, then added, "What's the point in adventures if you don't want to get hurt? You'll never feel the thrill of an adrenaline rush that way; you'll never feel it was an adventure."

"What do you mean?" He asked, a slight frown creasing his brow.

"Just stick close, and you might find out." She laughed at his uncertainty.

Strange voices soon drifted through the forest, and Aragorn mentally noted that he would have to let his father know of the orcs' reappearance as soon as he returned. But now, thoroughly cautious, he stood before the young lady, holding his sword in his usual two-handed grip.

"Stay behind me, those orcs are evil, and show no mercy." He warned softly.

But the girl only put down her horse on her ground and mounted it. She must have seen Aragorn's incomprehension because she gestured behind her. "What are you waiting for? Mount up!"

Aragorn never thought he had felt more frustrated than this. Did the girl really know no boundaries? Still, he mounted on the horse, wondering if it could bear both their weight.

"Hold me."

Aragorn sighed heavily, but he complied.

And the horse rode hard, flying faster than what he thought was possible. As they shot past the enclosing orcs, Aragorn knew he was in this strange girl's debt. Even with his sword, he could not be certain he could hold his ground against so many of them, much less escape alive.

Now, trying to study this girl, he realized that her hair looked strange and, unlike any of the elves', everything was woven together like two bundles of rope.

"What have you done with your hair?"

"You mean my two braids? I love to braid my hair." She simply replied.

Aragorn nodded vaguely at that, and much to his relief, the horse finally stopped. But now, he still had some questions about the girl. "You never told me what your name is." He said as he dismounted from the wild horse.

The girl smiled, "That is because you never asked, just as I never did ask for yours."

"What is your name then?" Aragorn asked.

"Pippi." She replied.

"What kind of name is that?" He frowned at it.

She didn't reply but asked instead, "And what is your name?"

"My name is Aragorn."

"What kind of name is that, anyway?" Pippi asked.

"That is what my mother named me." Aragorn replied, feeling rather insulted.

"Well, I don't know my mother, but my father told me that she is watching out for me from the stars and the clouds."

Aragorn wondered what to say to that but at that moment, she beckoned to him.

"Come along, Aragorn, or as you feared, they will catch us now, unprepared." Pippi called to him, looking over from where she was still mounted on her horse.

Just then, a great wind came. Aragorn shielded his face as the dry sand from the ground blew into his face. He could not see anything but there were different voices now, and he tried to call for Pippi.

--

"How is he?" Legolas asked with concern, as he looked on the pallor and cold sweat that masked his friend's face.

Elrond looked up at Legolas and gave a sig. "Not good."

"Were the wounds infected?" Legolas asked, his voice full of concern.

"The wound in his shoulder was, but the one in his side is healing well without any sign of infection."

Legolas frowned and turned to the man. "Aragorn," Legolas tried to speak with his friend, "You have to be well. There are lots of places we haven't investigated yet. I need you as a friend with me as well."

Elrond could not help but smile at the elf's words, knowing how their friendship was strong, stronger than iron or any metal could ever be. But suddenly, he turned as he heard Aragorn mumble something. Looking over at Legolas, he could see that the young elf seemed as confused as he was.

"What did he just say?" Legolas asked, straining to hear the man.

Elrond shook his head. What the man said could be anything from Beebi to Pippi to Bilbe. "Did he call for Bilbo?" He thought aloud, finding the only possibility that remotely made sense.

"Bilbe… come… back." Aragorn's speech seemed more coherent now but they still had no idea what it was about.

"Bilbe? Who is Bilbe?" Legolas asked, wondering if he had heard it wrong.

As though on cue, Aragorn mumbled, "Redhead… Bilbe…"

"Bilbo could have been a redhead." Elrond tried to reason.

Legolas nodded. He had caught a glimpse of the hobbit once although he was certain he would not describe him as such.

"Let's wait for more." Elrond suggested.

The man was making them far more curious than they usually would have been. Elrond did not rule out how the man would have been more familiar with Bilbo and those of his kind, and he wondered if the man was recalling some memory shared with the cheerful hobbit. Perhaps he might gleam more of his friend through Aragorn's ravings…

"Bil… Two braids… In the wind…"

All the other elf knew was the respectable Lord Elrond was now clutching his side in uncontrollable laughter.

_The End_


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